New Gaza law mandates gender segregation in Palestinian schools

Gaza City, Gaza Strip: Starting with the new school year in September, Gaza boys and girls in middle and high school will be breaking the law if they study side by side.

Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers argue that the new legislation, mandating gender separation in schools from age nine, enshrines common practice. But women's activists warned Tuesday that it's another step in the Hamas agenda of imposing its fundamentalist world view on Gaza's 1.7 million people.